


The Flight of The Crows

by ThatOneAnimePoet2000



Category: Haikyuu!!, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Aobajousai, Fukuroudani, Gen, Karasuno, Nekoma, Post-U.A. Cultural Festival Arc (My Hero Academia), Shiratorizawa
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:40:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29803053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatOneAnimePoet2000/pseuds/ThatOneAnimePoet2000
Summary: When she's caught in the cross-fire of a routine quirk training session gone wrong, young Eri is sent into another universe far different from her own. Without anyone else with a quirk by her side, she must find a way to return home. Luck seems to be out of reach for Eri until she is taken in by the managers of Karasuno's volleyball team. She soon becomes a valuable asset to the teams, helping out the managers and cheering the boys on during their games when she can.Will Eri be able to return home with the team's help? Read on to find out!
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. Accident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a quirk training session gone wrong, Eri is sent to another world in which quirks don't exist. Alone and afraid, she must find a way to return home.

Early mornings have proven time and time again to be the perfect time to train quirks and to learn and practice various ways of attack to use against the scum of society. This is the philosophy of UA's staff, the homeroom teachers of the hero courses being no different. Not all of the students in those courses agree at first, but they usually are grateful for the training by the time they become pro heroes. It's no surprise, then, that Class 1-A and Class 1-B often go through quirk training together and are frequently pitted against each other to show off their improvement so far and to learn how to grow stronger with the quirk they have to work with. If nothing else happens with these quirk training sessions, it gives certain students the push of motivation they need to strengthen their quirks and temporarily inflate the egos of those whose overconfidence in themselves knows no bounds. 

Eri had heard about these training sessions before from both Izuku and Mirio, but she had yet to see one in action. When she was invited to watch a quirk training session by her current guardian, Shota Aizawa, she quickly accepted the offer. She was stoked to watch Izuku and the other students in the hero courses show off their quirks, especially given the hype she's heard from some of the other students about them and what she's heard about all the various cool quirks the students have. "Hey, Eri," Izuku whispered in an attempt to not disturb his classmates or his teacher as they try to fully wake themselves up on their walk to the arena where the Sports Festival was held just a few months earlier. "What kind of quirks do you think you'll see today?" "I don't know," Eri replied, a light igniting in her ruby red eyes as her anticipation increased. "But I think it'd be really cool to see someone flying or keeping the enemy on their toes with how quickly they can get away!" The little girl kept rattling off some interesting ideas for quirks while Izuku listened on as he reviews his notes on his classmates' quirks. "Well, I'm sure you won't be disappointed," he said with a smile as he continued to review the notes.

The two rival classes arrived at the arena, a bit more energized than they were moments earlier. The students buzzed about what they thought was in store for their training as their homeroom teachers nodded to each other like two old friends who don't need to say anything to know what they were thinking. "All right, quiet down, " an exhausted Aizawa grumbled before the students obeyed him. "By now, you should all know that you have 15 minutes to warm up before the matches begin...." Eri zoned out by that point in his pre-training lecture, she was much more fascinated by the massive stadium everyone was standing in. She felt smaller than usual, like a young bird taking its first solo flight in the sky. Izuku had told her about how big the stadium was, but she could've never imagined it was bigger than the life-changing concert just a few weeks prior. 

Once the two teachers wrapped up their initial instructions and announcing the matches for this round of training, Eri followed them to the seats of the stadium to stay out of the students' way as they warmed up. The teachers made no attempt to make small talk with each other as Eri watched the students warming up for training. She was amazed to watch how each of them warmed up, varying from watching as things she'd never be able to pick up start floating in mid-air and someone using their tongue to pull themselves off the ground to fire and ice and sparkling lasers being shot out in all different directions. It was a chaotic environment, but it brought Eri a sense of peace that she had never felt before. She much rather preferred being in a place as lively and chaotic as this than to be back in the hands of the scumbag who held her hostage just a few months before. 

Suddenly, a beautiful icy-blue butterfly flew past a sleeping Aizawa, instantly catching Eri's attention from the chaos in the stadium. She'd never seen a creature as stunning as the butterfly that was now tempting her to leave the two teachers behind and follow it. One glance back at them later and Eri surrendered to her curiosity and followed as the butterfly flew further and further away from her. "Come back, Mr. Butterfly!" Eri softly called as she tried to keep up with it. She then lost sight of the butterfly, much to her disappointment, until she felt something softly land on her short horn. She tried to catch it only to accidentally hit herself in the head and scare off whatever was resting on her horn, but quickly shook off the pain as she saw the butterfly again. It was almost like it was teasing her in that she couldn't catch it very easily. Determined to catch the aquamarine butterfly, Eri continued to chase it further and further throughout the stadium. 

She paid no attention to any of the chaos going on around her, narrowly missing electric shocks, mushrooms, explosions and anything else that stood between her and that butterfly. She couldn't even hear Aizawa calling her name in a desperate attempt to get her to return to where he and Vlad King were waiting as he finally realized that she had wandered off. All of her focus and energy had gone towards catching that butterfly that was taunting her so badly at this point. Some of the other students had tried to catch her not wanting to know how Aizawa would react if any harm were to come Eri's way, but all their attempts from stopping her in mid-air and sticky violet glue balls to tape and even a student's tongue were in vain as she avoided all of them. Most of the students had temporarily stopped warming up when they noticed that Eri had wandered into their training space, but a few had not paid attention to all the new commotion going on around them. 

It wasn't until a familiar voice broke through the other chaos around that Eri had finally realized just how much she'd wandered off. "Eri! Look out!" Izuku shouted with hints of desperation in his voice, finally breaking Eri's concentration on the butterfly. It came a little too late for her to slow down without incident, however, as she ran head first into a solid air bubble, knocking her down to the ground almost instantly. "Ow..." Eri mumbled, grimacing as she tried to touch the spot on her head that hurt the most. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" the source of the air bubble exclaimed as he began to panic about what kind of punishment would be in store for him, despite the notoriously strict Aizawa not being his homeroom teacher. "Eri?!" Izuku exclaimed as he rushed over to where she was laying. "Are you alright?" 

"I told you it was a bad idea to bring her to one of these things, Deku!" a particularly loud voice scolded, as Eri began to feel dizzy and lose her vision. "Not now, Kacchan!" Izuku snapped before turning his attention back to Eri. "Can you still see me, Eri?" "Yes, Mr. Deku," she answered, trying and failing to stand back up on her feet. "But you're really blurry and I feel sleepy." Panic rushed through Izuku's veins as he struggled to think of anything else to say that could comfort the injured little girl. "Try to stay awake, okay?" he asked with fear laced in his voice. Eri nodded only to wince afterwards. The butterfly then landed on her nose for a few moments as if it was saying "In your face, you stupid kid!" before it took off to places unknown. The last thing Eri remembered hearing before her vision went completely dark and everything went silent was Aizawa yelling at all the students to back away from her and to not overwhelm her in her injured state. 

To be continued


	2. Strange New World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Eri wakes up, she finds herself in a world much different from her own. As she's trying to find her family again, a volleyball rolls towards her feet and she goes to find out who it belongs to. In doing this, she meets two pretty girls who agree to help her find her family.

Eri groaned as she opened her eyes and sat herself up. She reached her right hand to her horn to make sure she didn't accidentally use her quirk on anyone and was relieved to find no change in her horn's size. Any pain she was feeling after the tumble she took following her running into the solid air bubble had vanished. As she slowly started to wake up, she made a sudden realization: she was no longer in UA, but she had no idea where she was. She then noticed that she was sitting under some tall tree, so she stood up and dusted herself off before she took a moment to look around her. She was in some sort of park with lots of oak trees around. Since there were several acorns resting by her feet, Eri assumed that it must've been spring or summer where she is now compared to the mid-autumn she was in before. 

"Is this that time travel thing I heard Mirio and Nejire talking about yesterday?" Eri wondered as she decided to venture out of the park to find out where Izuku, Aizawa, and everyone else had run off to. Clutching the strap of her maroon messenger bag, Eri took a deep breath as she left the park to the suburb streets ahead of her. 

"Mr. Deku?" she called as she walked. "Mr. Aizawa?" No response. "Mr. Deku?" she called again, louder this time. Still no response. "Where are you?" 

Eri stopped when she came across a small convenience store with a vending machine in front of it. Her throat started to feel sore when she noticed the vending machine. She dug around in her messenger bag to see if she could find some change to get a bottle of water, but to no avail. Disappointment and dehydrated, Eri pouted as she continued to trudge her way through the street. Her attitude changed a bit when she heard someone's voice holler, "Shit! I'm gonna be late for practice again!" coming from the convenience store behind her. She jumped at the sound of the voice, finding herself unable to continue walking as if nothing happened. She tried to calm herself down and motivate herself to keep trying to find Izuku and Aizawa until she heard the loud voice again. 

"Hey, kid!" The voice loudly beckoned. "You there in the red and white dress and the horn!" 

Eri slowly turned her head to see if there was anyone else around that the voice could be calling to before beginning to worry. "Yeah, you!" the voice hollered. Eri then turned around to see the source of the voice: a tall, angry-looking blond man with piercings in one ear donning a red jacket and matching athletic pants. She couldn't hear what the man was saying as she glanced at him up and down and started shaking in fear. "I'm so sorry for making you mad, mister!" Eri cried as she began to run away as fast and as far as her short legs to take her, not bothering to stop or look back as the man called for her to come back. 

She slowed down as she realized that she was becoming more and more dehydrated, turning her head once in each direction to make sure the scary man didn't follow her. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found that he didn't. Eri then took a moment to notice her new surroundings: a high school smaller than UA and with a couple nearby buildings that looked like they could be a large gym and some locker rooms, something UA didn't have in the same way this school did. She then felt something tap the side of her right leg, making her jump a little in surprise until she looked down and saw a red, green and white ball by her feet. She picked it up with both hands and noticed that it was bigger than her head. 

She dropped it once, watching it bounce before she stopped it from touching the ground again, making her smile a little for the first time since she first woke up. As Eri was about to bounce the ball again, though, another loud voice had startled her. 

"Damn it, you dumbass!" the voice scolded. "You're not supposed to hit the ball out of the open window!" 

Eri tilted her head slightly to the left, wondering if the ball she was holding was the one that the voice was referring to. She glanced at the ball, then in the direction the voice came from, then back at the ball. "I should probably bring this back," she said out loud, knowing no one could hear her. "Whoever this ball belongs might miss it soon." Before she headed towards the source of the voice, she noticed a drinking fountain on the side of the smaller of the two buildings next to the school. She'd forgotten how thirsty she was for water until she saw the fountain, ran towards it with ball in hand and got a quick drink before running off to find the ball's rightful owner.

Meanwhile, the two managers of Karasuno's volleyball team struggled to find the stray ball that somehow managed to fly out the window after a serve too strong for a mere practice before a game. Neither of the girls had seen anything quite like the wildly inaccurate serve from the decoy, but they were relieved that the biggest problem that serve caused was that the ball was nowhere to be found. As their search went on, they prayed that the rest of the team wasn't giving Hinata too much hell for a mere accident through anxiety. Anyone would be nervous if they had to face an opponent who has defeated them before - especially if that opponent happens to be a powerhouse like Aoba Johsai. Neither Yachi nor Kiyoko could blame him for his nerves getting the best of him on such short notice.

"See anything yet, Shimizu?" Yachi asked as she dusted herself off after having dove face-first into some bushes trying to find the missing ball. "Not yet," Kiyoko answered, frustration slowly building as the search for the rogue ball remained fruitless. "I'm surprised Hinata didn't break the window with that serve." "Yeah," the petite blonde girl said with a soft sigh, preparing to give up on the search for the missing ball. "I knew it was a bad idea to open all the windows today, but I didn't want anyone to get overheated. Who would've thought a serve could go so wrong?" 

Kiyoko nodded in agreement as she pushed back a strand of her raven hair from her face. "I never thought it'd be so hard to find a green, red and white ball," she thought aloud as she checked a lonely pine tree one last time for any signs of the ball. 

Eri rested by a small pine tree with the ball she found in hand. She studied it as she'd never seen anything like it, wondering what it was for and why it was the colors that it was. As she was wondering about the ball, though, she couldn't help but overhear a conversation between two young ladies nearby. Eri had turned her head a few times to watch them as they seemed to be looking for something without any luck. She didn't catch much of what they were saying until the taller girl told the shorter one, "I never thought it'd be so hard to find a green, red and white ball." 

Eri's eyes widened as she put two and two together by looking at the ball and back at the girls. Back at the ball, back at the girls. It seemed as though the girls were about to give up their search, so Eri stood up slowly, picked up the ball, and took a deep breath before approaching them. "Excuse me, miss?" she piped up as she held the ball out for the two girls to see. "Is this the ball you're talking about?" 

Yachi and Kiyoko turned to each other, stunned but relieved that someone had found what they were looking for. "Yes, thank you!" Yachi replied as the little girl handed her the ball. "Where did you find it?" "It rolled over to me when I was standing over there," the little girl with the long white hair answered before she turned to point towards where the locker rooms were. "I can't believe it rolled that far!" Kiyoko remarked, surprised by Eri's reply. "Thank you again for your help. We thought that ball was a goner!" 

"You're welcome," Eri replied. "What's that ball for, anyway?" "Oh, we manage a volleyball team," Yachi explained, slightly confused as to how someone had never heard of the sport before. "Say, you're a little young to look like a high school student," Kiyoko commented. "What were you doing here anyway..., Um... What's your name?" "My name's Eri," the little girl answered. "I'm six years old and I can't find my family. You two seem very nice and you both are really pretty. Can you help me find my family?"

The two managers took one glance at each other before nodding to each other. Eri had helped them find the rogue ball; it's only fair that they helped her find her family. After all, neither of them wanted Eri to get hurt as she tried to find her way back home. 

"I don't think the team will mind if we let Eri watch them play for the rest of practice, right Hitoka?" Kiyoko asked her fellow manager, who nodded in reply. "Yeah, don't worry, Eri!" Yachi added. "We'll help you get back home! Why don't you follow us back to the gym and we can help you once practice is done?" "Okay, pretty ladies!" Eri answered, beaming as she noticed the two managers were flattered by her compliment. 

"My name's Kiyoko, by the way," the glasses-wearing girl said as she took Eri's hand as the three girls walked Back to the gym together. "I'm Hitoka!" the blonde girl added. "We're the managers of Karasuno High's volleyball team!" "Oh, yeah, Eri?" Kiyoko asked just before she went to open the door to the gym. "I just wanted to let you know that the teammates can be a bit... What's the word I'm looking for here?" "Intense?" Yachi suggested. "Yes, thank you," Kiyoko answered. "Oh, it's okay," Eri remarked as she gripped onto the strap of her messenger bag. "I've seen scarier things before." The two managers briefly glanced at each other in worry about what the little girl meant by that, but quickly shrugged it off as they went to open the gym door.

To be continued


	3. With Open Arms (Part One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eri meets the Karasuno volleyball team (about time, I know). While most of the team welcomes her with open arms, some of the members are skeptical of how someone so young and inexperienced in sports can be helpful to the team.

As the door slid open, Eri was amazed by the sight that stood before her. A large gym with a big volleyball net in the center, two baskets of volleyballs to one side. The team members had been practicing their serves since Kiyoko and Yachi had left them, mainly to prevent any more balls to end up flying out of another open window. 

"We're back, everyone," Kiyoko called as she took the ball from Yachi's arms and tossed it into the basket. At that moment, two of the players rushed towards the girls as if they were racers after hearing the gunshot cue for the race to begin. "Kiyoko! You've returned!" they shouted enthusiastically. The taller girl let out a knowing sigh before she stopped them in their tracks and reminded them. "Tanaka, Nishinoya, we were only gone for ten minutes, you know." 

The rest of the team paused their practice and walked over to where the girls were standing. As the room seemed to become more crowded, Eri found herself hiding behind Yachi for protection. 

"Shimizu wouldn't have been gone if SOMEONE didn't serve the ball right out the open window!" a voice piped up in sheer anger. Eri recognized the voice as the one that she heard scolding someone earlier, so she poked her head out from behind Yachi to see who it was. A somewhat tall guy with short black hair and a stern expression on his face, sporting a number "9" on his uniform shirt. 

"I still can't believe Hinata managed to do that, but I can't say I'm surprised," an even taller guy wearing glasses remarked with an amused snicker. "I said I was sorry!" a short orange-haired boy whined while pouting. "I was just really nervous! Don't act like you never get nervous too, Tsukki!"

"What matters is that we at least got the ball back," Yachi said in an attempt to prevent a fight breaking out between the three first years. "Even if we did have a bit of help doing so." 

Eri knew who Yachi was referring to at that point. She figured that this moment was the best time to make her presence known to the team, so she took a deep breath before finally stepping out from behind Yachi. 

"Hello," she piped up with a hint of nervousness in her voice. "My name's Eri. I helped these two pretty ladies find the ball and now they're going to help me find my family." 

The team gave each other surprised and confused glances before the glasses-wearing boy asked, "Oh, did they, now?" "Come on, Tsukki!" a slightly shorter boy with green hair and freckles retorted. "Be nice! She's just a little girl." The two of them reminded Eri a little of Bakugo and Izuku back at home, so she felt slightly more relaxed.

"Who would've guessed that an actual child is more mature than both Noya and Tanaka combined?" a stern-looking man sporting a number "1" on his uniform asked, a hint of teasing in his voice. "Yeah, it's a little sad, really," a shorter guy with grey hair replied in agreement. "You know they can both hear you, right, captain? Suga?" a tall nervous-looking guy with a bun in his hair and a beard asked, bracing himself for the inevitable shout from the two team members in question: "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Sorry about them, Eri," a plain-looking man said with a hint of embarrassment in his voice. "They're just like that. A lot of them don't really know when they're being stupid. Don't hold it against them." Eri nodded in response, not really knowing how to reply to his remarks. "Anyway, I should probably introduce you to the team since no one else is doing so," he commented before he began his introductions of his teammates. 

He first gestured towards the group who was now arguing about whether or not the two boys pining for Kiyoko were indeed more mature than Eri. "That group over there may not be acting like it right now, but they're actually some of the oldest members on the team," he said with an amused snicker at the end of his comments. 

"That tall angry-looking dude with the brown hair is Daichi. He's our team's captain. Next to him with the grey hair is Sugawara, but everyone calls him Suga. He's one of our setters and the vice captain." "Oh, you're introducing us to Eri, Ennoshita?" Daichi asked. "Thank you. Sorry I forgot about that, had to deal with a couple of idiots." "No worries, captain," Ennoshita replied. "I figured someone had to do it, so I might as well get it done.

"Anyway, that tough-looking dude with the beard is Asahi. He might look scary, but our ace is actually a big softie." "I'm not that soft!" Asahi complained. "But you look like you give great hugs," Eri replied, causing him to stammer out a "Well, um... Thank you very much...." before running towards where the first years were standing. 

Ennoshita laughed a little at his response to Eri's compliment before moving on with the introductions. "These two knuckleheads are Nishinoya and Tanaka," he said. "They're our libero and one of our many outside hitters." "You forgot to mention how we're the coolest people on the team!" Noya exclaimed. "You'd say we're cool, right, Eri? Aren't we the coolest?!" "Dude, don't scare her like that!" Tanaka scolded. Ennoshita let out a knowing sigh of annoyance before telling Eri "You don't have to answer that." before moving on. 

"My name is Chikara Ennoshita, everyone just calls me by my last name, though," he said. "My friend Kinoshita and I are both wing spikers while our friend Narita is a middle blocker." "Thanks for including us, bro," Narita replied before adding in a whisper. "At least you don't forget about us unlike captain." "Hi there, Eri," Kinoshita said with a warm smile. "I hope you're not too overwhelmed by us yet, I know some of our teammates can be a bit... much at times." "Not at all," Eri answered as she adjusted the strap of her messenger bag. "I've seen a lot more crazy things back at home. This is nothing to me." "Oh, okay, then," Kinoshita replied, a confused and concerned look spreading across his face.

Trying to ignore Eri's remark, Ennoshita decided it was best to move on with the introduction. "Those two who are at each others' throats are two of the best players on our team," he explained. "Kageyama and Hinata might not look like it, but when there's a game, they're the last people you want to mess with. They're our other setter and our decoy." "Yeah, we're great when someone doesn't insist on doing everything himself!" Hinata responded while sulking. "I don't act like that all the time, moron," Kageyama retorted as the two glared intensely at each other. "Um... Let's keep going, yeah, Eri?" Ennoshita asked with a nervous laugh. 

"And these two are Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. They're middle blockers." "What's with the horn on your head?" Tsukishima asked, an almost insulting tone in his voice. "Oh, this?" Eri answered as she pointed to the horn poking out of the right side of her head. "I've had that as long as I can remember! It's normal to have things like horns and tails where I'm from. I even know a guy who has the head of a bird!" "So, you're not from around here, are you?" Yamaguchi asked. "I've never been anywhere near here in my life," Eri replied. "But I like it here so far! But I think my family misses me right now...." "I'm sure they miss you, Eri," the green-haired boy answered in agreement. 

"Hey, have either of you seen or heard from coach yet?" Ennoshita asked the two first years, earning a "no" in response from both. "Well, he's the last person on the team that Eri hasn't met yet. Him and Mr. Takeda." "Both of them said they were running a little late today," Kiyoko replied. "Eri probably won't be here for too long, she's only here for as long as it takes us to help her find her family." 

"... I miss them," Eri mumbled with a quiet sigh under her breath. "Don't worry, Eri," Hinata replied with a soft smile. "We'll help you find them! Hey, do you know how to play volleyball? Maybe I can teach you how to serve the ball while we wait for Coach to get here!" "You're seriously going to teach her?" Tsukishima asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "After that disaster of a serve?" "I was nervous, Tsukki, for the last time!" Hinata argued with a pout. "That sounds like fun," Eri replied. "Really?" Hinata responded, as Eri nodded in eagerness. "Alright! Follow me, and I'll show you how to serve the ball!" He then gently took Eri's hand and ran towards the net before grabbing a ball and taking the little girl to the other side of the net. 

"So, Shimizu," Daichi inquired as they watched Hinata show Eri an underhanded serve. "We obviously can't have Eri on our team while she's here, so how do you think she can be helpful to us while we have her around?" "Hm...," Kiyoko replied as Eri tried to serve the ball, but failed to get it to go over the net. "I have a few ideas in mind...." 

To be continued


	4. With Open Arms (Part Two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiyoko reveals her plan on how to keep Eri involved with the team while they help her find her family shortly before Coach Ukai and Mr. Takeda show up to practice. Later, as some of the members of the team share their worries about their upcoming game against Aoba Johsai, Eri opens up about how she handles being scared about something. If only the team knew about everything the poor girl has been through....

As Eri made another unsuccessful attempt to serve the ball with Hinata's help, Kiyoko began to explain to Daichi her plan on how the little girl was going to help the team while she was there with them. "Sure, she might not be able to play on the team since she's not old enough yet," Kiyoko started. "But that doesn't mean she's completely useless. I see a couple ways Eri could help us while she's here." 

"How so?" Daichi asked as he watched Hinata try to show Eri an easier way to serve the ball, almost snickering to himself as the little girl tilted her head in confusion. "Well," Kiyoko replied. "For starters, she can help me and Yachi with some of our more easier tasks. That way, we're not as stressed out during a game. The other way I was thinking of is that Eri could help in getting the team fired up for games and practice games. Kinda like how I did before that tournament before Yachi joined."

Daichi thought for a moment about what Kiyoko had told him, watching as Nishinoya was trying to help Eri better understand what Hinata was trying to teach her. "I think I understand what you mean," he answered. "I was thinking that she could help with motivating us as well. It might take a bit of convincing on our parts to get Coach to let her stay with us, but I don't see why he'd say no." 

Right at that moment, Coach Ukai and Mr. Takeda arrived together. "Sorry we're late, everyone," the shorter, nerdier looking teacher said sheepishly. "I got a bit caught up in our monthly staff meeting and lost track of time." "And I lost track of time while I was stocking up the store," the blond man explained. "I hope you all have been practicing while we were away." "Yes, coach," Daichi answered, leaving the two coaches satisfied with the response. 

Just then, the sound of a water bottle tipping over and hitting the ground could be heard throughout the gym. "Great job, Eri, you did it!" Nishinoya exclaimed, beaming with pride like a father whose child just showed them a report card with straight A's on it. Hinata bent down slightly to give Eri a high-five before bragging to the other first years, "See that, Kageyama? I told you I'd be able to teach her!" All the dark-haired boy could do was roll his eyes in response while gently patting the little girl's head before she took off towards where Daichi, Kiyoko and the two coaches were standing. 

"Did you see that?" Eri asked with a proud smile on her face. "Did you see my serve? I finally got the ball over the net!" "Yes, we saw it, Eri," Kiyoko replied with a slightly amused laugh at how adorable the girl's confidence was. "Nice job!" The manager then noticed the surprised look on the coaches faces before she explained, "Oh, right, I forgot you haven't met these two yet. Eri, this is Coach Ukai and Mr. Takeda. They're in charge of our team. Coach, Mr. Takeda, this is Eri. She helped us find a rogue ball during practice and now we're helping her find her family again."

Coach Ukai nodded as he tried to remember how and why Eri looked so familiar to him, while Mr. Takeda said as he internally fawned over the little girl, "That's very sweet of you kids to help her out. Jeez, Eri reminds me of how much I want to have a family of my own someday." Mr. Takeda's sentiments mostly went ignored as Eri realized that she's met the more athletic blond man before. 

"You're the kid I scared off earlier, aren't ya?" Coach Ukai asked as he started to dig something out of a small black duffle bag. "Yes, Mister," Eri replied with a slight nod. "I thought I did something wrong and that you were mad at me because I heard you yelling about being late to something." "Please, kid, just call me Coach," he said, pulling out a cold, plastic water bottle from the bag. "'Mister' makes me sound old. Anyway, I think you were eyeing one of these, right? But you didn't have the money for one?" "Yes, Coach," Eri answered. "Here, it's yours now, kid," he said as he handed her the water bottle. "It's on the house, no need to pay me back for it. Think of it as my apology to you for scaring you earlier." "Really?!" Eri replied, beaming in excitement. "Thank you, Mis- I mean - Coach!" 

With that, Eri took off for the benches where she sat as she wrote her name on the bottle with a marker she borrowed from Yachi. She stood back up when she noticed the two coaches followed by Daichi and Kiyoko were walking towards the benches. The rest of the team gathered as well, preparing for practice to officially begin now that their coach was finally here. "Thank you all for practicing while we were away," Ukai began. "As I'm sure you all know by now, we have a new member joining us for now. If any of you give Eri a hard time and I hear about it, I won't hesitate to punish you for it. Is that understood?" The last remark earned him the quickest and loudest "Yes, Coach!" he'd ever heard the team give. Satisfied with the team's answer, he continued on with the plan for how Karasuno was going to win in their match against Aoba Johsai the next day. It was all very confusing for Eri, so she just listened as much as she could while occasionally sipping from her water bottle. "Hey, is anyone else nervous about tomorrow's game?" Asahi asked after Coach had ended the pre-practice meeting. "Of course you'd be the one to ask that question," Sugawara deadpanned while rolling his eyes slightly. "We all know Hinata is," Kageyama replied, referring to the terrible serve from earlier. "Me too," Yamaguchi added. "I try not to let it show, though. I know we have an amazing team and I have confidence that we'll at least be better than our last match, but I just can't help but be a little scared about all the things that can go wrong. I don't know if that makes any sense to anyone, though." Eri couldn't help but eavesdrop as the team went on about their anxiety about facing one of their greatest rivals. She understood what they meant when they were talking to each other, so she wanted to try to help them feel a little bit better. "I know what you mean," she replied. "I've been through some scary things too, so I can see why you'd be scared too. I don't know what else to say to help you, but just know that I understand what you mean." "Wait, Eri, you have?" Tanaka asked, a puzzled and slightly concerned look on his face. "Like what?" Eri knew that this moment was coming eventually, but she couldn't help but sadly sigh before she began to briefly explain the horrors she went through the best she could. "Well, there was this man who hurt me really bad," she answered, already concerning much of the team. "He had this power that could combine things whether they were dead or alive. With his power and my power, he turned into a big monster and hurt me and a lot of my friends." No one on the team was sure of how to react to what they heard. What they did know, however, was that they wouldn't wish what happened to Eri on their worst enemy. What that man did to her made people they hated look like saints. The awkward silence grew as various members of the team were struggling to figure out how to react to what Eri had told them. Finally, the silence was broken by Nishinoya, who could only muster out, "Eri... You poor thing...." "That's an understatement if I've ever heard one," Tsukishima added as he tried to get the shocked look off of his face. "Eri, come here for a second," Sugawara said calmly, almost too calmly. The little girl nodded and followed the vice captain, who then bent down to her level before he took a deep breath and began his response. "I - no - we want you to know that as long as you're here with us, you're safe. We would never, ever do anything to hurt you. If any of the others give you problems or hurt you, you let me know. It doesn't even have to be me, it can be Coach, Mr. Takeda, Daichi, any of our managers. Just tell one of us and we'll handle it. You're safe here with us, Eri, please remember that." "Yeah! We're all a family here!" Tanaka added. "If anyone hurts you, I'm kicking their a- er - butt!" "Nice catch, bro," Nishinoya whispered to him as he gave him a fist bump. "Tanaka...," Daichi sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Come on, Boss!" Tanaka exclaimed. "I know you'd do the same thing!" As much as the team captain didn't want to admit it, his junior was right. After hearing Eri talk a little bit about her past, he never wanted anyone to hurt her even a fraction of how much that evil man had. Kageyama had noticed Eri feeling a little more uncomfortable as his senior teammates were going on about what they'd do to anyone who'd lay a hand on her. He shook his head slightly before asking the little girl, "Want me to help you practice your serves some more?" Eri, picking up on his attempt of trying to distract her from the conversation, agreed and followed him to the opposite side of the court. Ennoshita noticed this happening and remembered 'Oh yeah, we're supposed to be practicing,' but wasn't sure how to get the rest of the team on board with starting practice while they were heated up. He then got an idea and said, "Hey, we should save this energy for when we face Aoba Johsai tomorrow. For now, though, let's use it to make practice great!" The rest of the team caught on and they prepared for their official practice, disappointing Kageyama as he wanted to have a moment with Eri by himself just as Hinata and Nishinoya had before. Eri then followed Kiyoko and Yachi to the side of the gym where Coach Ukai and Mr. Takeda were waiting as she watched the practice unfold smoothly. The older manager then pitched her plan for who the little girl was going to stay with until she was reunited with her family, deciding to have her stay with Kiyoko at night, and then with Coach during the school day, who would then bring her to the next practice or to games. To be continued


End file.
